Christmas Cookies
by AzrielEver
Summary: Ri and the Winchesters spend Christmas at Bobby's house when an unexpected visitor drops by and a revelation is made. One-sided Destiel, fluff. In association with Angelic Child on my profile, which I may or may not do.


This fic is dedicated to annabecca7 (now erus-aevus) on deviantART. It was inspired by her photograph of an angel Christmas cookie named "Castiel Cookie". I thought it was cute and decided I was going to write something about it.

Note: In connection with a fic idea I called "The Angelic Child". For summary, go to my profile AzrielEver. I may or may not go through with it, though.

(Linebreaker)

December 24

I felt small hands shake me while I was asleep. I groaned and shifted in my bed.

"Dean," called the voice of a young boy. I groaned at him to go away.

"Dean," the voice persisted with another shake. I swatted at the intruder this time.  
>"Dean, wake up," the voice said excitedly. This rare sign of emotion was enough to rouse me out of sleep. On my bed was a twelve-looking boy with tan skin, dark messy spikes, and chocolaty brown eyes. He was already dressed in white pants and a blue sweater. A rare smile was on his face like a kid on Christmas. Oh wait….<p>

"Merry Christmas, Dean," the kid said with a rare enthusiasm. He looked like he could run around the world in 80 seconds without breaking a sweat.

"Hey Ri, what time is it?" Ri's real name is Azriel but that was too much of a mouthful and just plain weird. Sam had suggested "Az" but that didn't sit well either. I couldn't remember a time I laughed harder.

"It's seven o'clock," Ri said matter of factly. I groaned. The kid's ability to wake up so early in the morning with such energy was just plain unnatural. Usually he let me sleep until ten o'clock in the morning, when I would find him watching TV since he was up in whatever motel room we were in. But then again, Christmas didn't come every day.

"Where's Bobby and Sam?" We were staying at Bobby's new house. For a while, Bobby was living from motel to motel like us, but a hunter buddy of his left a house in his will to him in Montana. It's twenty minutes from the mountains, 30 minutes to the nearest ranch, and easily an hour from the nearest town. Out here there's nothing but meadows and forest, now covered in inches of snow.

"Bobby's in the living room reading and Sam's out for his morning jog."

"In this weather? Is he crazy?"

"Yup. He'll be back any moment now," Ri said. He didn't show the slightest bit of concern, he knew Sammy could take care of himself and would await his return. I tried to go back to sleep but Ri already seen to it that I'd stay awake.

"I'll make your coffee," Ri said and went off to the kitchen. I got up and put on my boots. I slept in my clothes. When I went downstairs to the kitchen, the kettle was already whistling and Ri was pouring the hot water into a mug. He had a can of instant grounds but I took the can from it.

"I'll do it myself, thank anyways Ri," I said. Ri smiled and nodded a bow. He dug into the fridge.

"What are you looking for Ri," I asked as I prepared my coffee the way I liked it. Ri took out a bag.

"Bobby bought sugar cookie dough. I'm making cookies!" The kid had the biggest smile I had ever seen. I couldn't help but laugh. God, how I needed that, it's not like we are usually this happy even around Christmas time.

Ri heated the oven and he took out two pans. He opened the bag and set it on a cutting board. Next he took out cookie cutters and got to work. He made a few gingerbread men and what looked like two angels, a couple of stars and some boxy shape with two circles. On some of the gingerbread men he made stylizations that looked like hair horns and sticks. He greased some pans and set the dough lovingly on the pans before putting them in the oven. I watched all this amazed that such a small thing could cheer Ri up so much. This is the kid who hardly talks, who hardly smiles, who doesn't ask for anything besides the bare necessities. The kid's never come off as sad, angry, regretful, or hurt. In fact, usually he shows little to no emotion. Like his father. Then again this is more than just a holiday for him.

At this point I heard Sam come in and call out that he's home. I heard him go upstairs, to take a shower I presume. Ri is standing by the oven, anxiously awaiting his cookies to be ready.

"C'mon Ri, you don't have to hover over the oven like that. We have twenty minutes till the cookies are done. So let's watch TV." The kid followed me out the kitchen, looking a little uneasy but once we sat on the sofa with Bobby reading in an armchair nearby, he relaxed and we sat there watching Santa Claus is Coming to Town on ABC. A few minutes later Sam walks in, dressed in jeans and a sweater and hair wet and messy.

"Hey guys," his husky voice calls. We answer back.

"Hey, what's burning," Sam comments and then I notice that smoky smell in the air. Ri's eyes looked like they were gonna pop out of their sockets.

"My cookies!" The kid got up and ran with a speed rivaling most Olympic athletes. I ran after him. He took the pans out the oven, without oven mitts I might add.

"Ri, your hands!"

"It's okay Dean, I can't feel much of it." I almost forgot that the kid was only _half_ human. Sometimes he didn't feel pain like we do. I went to the counter to access the damage. Ri's hands didn't even look red, they were their typical tan tinted with yellow. But Ri was more concerned with the cookies, which weren't worse for wear. He let them cool before getting to work with frosting. I sat there enjoying my coffee, watching but it wasn't until halfway into them that I took notice. He used not only the Christmas cookie frosting but apparently black, chocolate, grey, blue and red from the old Halloween and Fourth of July sets. The stars were becoming pentagrams and he added hair and clothing details to the gingerbread man. I looked at one with a slanted point on its head and a stick before asking him what it was.

"It's you, silly," was his answer and now I saw it. The wayward point was colored brown for hair and green points marked the eyes. The stick was grey, which I recognized as a rifle. The cookie even had my jacket and jeans.

"Aw sweet!"

"And here's Sam," Ri said, pointing to a man with long brown hair and brown dots for eyes. "And here's Bobby," he said pointing to a gingerbread man with a cap and a brown beard and eyes.

"Dude, that cookie's a little round in the middle," I commented.

"Yeah, Bobby's got a belly," Ri said and I laughed. The kid didn't say it to be mean, he's very blunt and honest, just like his father used to be.

"Hey Sam, Bobby, come in here! The kid made cookies of us." Sam and Bobby came in and sure enough they were impressed by the details; the cookies had clothes just like they would wear.

"What's this," Sam asked, holding a boxy thing colored black and grey but I already knew what it was.

"Sweet! You made the Impala!" Ri looked as happy as can be.

"What's this," Bobby asked with a concerned look, pointing to a figure with horns, black crosses for eyes and a lot of red frosting. Me and Sam saw this one and I prayed to God it wasn't what I think it was.

"That's the demon Sam and Dean killed in Chicago," Ri said as if proud of his handiwork, which he probably was.

"And those?" There were more figure with similar crossed out eyes and red spots and blotches.

"Oh, this is the werewolf from El Paso. See, I made a tail. This is the witch couple from Cincinnati. This is the ghost from Sioux Falls…" Ri continued his procession of dead monsters, unaware of how silent and uneasy the three of us were. Then Ri stopped and stiffened. Now we broke out silence.

"What's wrong," I asked, concerned. Ri's answer was simple.

"He's here." I heard a rustle of feathers and had the feeling I was being stared at intensely from behind. I turned around, even if I knew who it was already and saw a scruffy man with a messy trenchcoat and a tie.

"Hello Cas," I greeted, if you could call it that. Sam and Bobby turned around.

"Hello father" Ri said without turning around. He reverted to his old self; emotionally distant and laconic.

"Azriel," Cas answered without much emotion either. An awkward silence followed. It's not every day an angel stops by for Christmas. It's also happens that that same angel is the source of a lot of anger and dislike.

"What are you doing here," Ri said without any hostility present in his voice. That didn't mean it wasn't there in his thoughts.

"I'm aware that this day is very important to humans in this country."

"It is," Ri confirmed. The three of us watched, waiting for that moment when emotions to break dam and all Purgatory breaks loose.

"And it also happens to be close to that day," Cas continues.

"You mean the day you dumped me on the Winchesters," was Ri's snide remark. Cas didn't look hurt or angry with Ri.

"Today's a day when humans give gifts to one another." Cas reaches into his pocket and pulls out a sloppily wrapped package. Ri stares at it, having neither fear nor anger in his eyes. It's disturbing, the lack of emotion these two show to each other, with Cas though, he doesn't normally feel emotion being an angel. But Ri does it almost as if to prove he can compare with his father.

"I'll be going now," said Cas.

"Wait," Ri said as if broken out of a spell. He reached to his cookies and brought an angel. It had black hair and wings, blue dots for eyes, and what looked like a trenchcoat and tie.

"It's for you," Ri said and for the first time since the encounter began I could see emotion in his eyes. He really wanted his father to take this gift. Cas stared at his image and for a while I thought he wasn't going to take it. I was ready to stab the bastard in the heart when Cas took the cookie.

"Thank you son," Cas said. I think this was the first time he said called Ri his son. And Ri tried his best to look stoic. Tried. With a whisper, Cas was gone. The room was in silence for what seemed like ages.

"Well, that was unexpected," said Bobby. The spell of silence was broken.

"What did he get you," Sam asked and as if finally noticing the package, Ri tore off the paper. It was a small book, the size of a hotel Bible. Ri opened it and there were photos on the page. It was an album. The pictures focused on a family of Latinos it looked like, all of them browned skinned and dark haired. There was one boy and three girls. The youngest wore a pink dress with a party hat. The caption said Cyndi's 10th Birthday. The rest of the photos showed the children in various stages of their lives. Then It focused on two sisters, Cyndi and Lizette. Then on Cyndi alone. First day at College. First day at El Camino Church.

"Why don't you skip to the back," I suggested. Everybody was looking over Ri's shoulders to glance, but at this rate, we could spend all Christmas looking at the photos. And it's already noon as it is. Ri skipped to the last couple of pages. And the last photos surprised us the most. There was Cyndi, short and brown, seated next to a scruffy man with a trenchcoat and tie.

"Is that Cas," Sam asked, knowing full well that was him. The next photos were of the first date, a date at the pier, a dinner date in a fine restaurant, meeting her parents (which was very strange indeed, it didn't look like Cyndi's family approved of Cas at all.). There was also a photo of Cas asleep on a bed, naked except for a white sheet covering his intimate parts. I couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt and jealousy, what for, I didn't know (or want to know). Cas looked peaceful and several years younger. The caption just said "First Time". The next photo was an ultrasound, marked 2 months, yet the fetus looked nearly fully developed. The last photo was of Cyndi facing a mirror with a round belly exposed. She looked like she was dying but a happy smile was on her lips. The caption said "Three months, almost ready". A drop of liquid fell on the page. It was then that I noticed that Ri was crying. The mothers of Nephilim rarely survived the birth. He reached into his sweater and pulled out a gold chain necklace on which a golden cross rested. The only legacy his mother left for him, a mother he would never know.

It was Sam who came to his rescue. He held the kid, who shook like a leaf yet was silent. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity before Ri finally stopped shaking. I really wished it had been me who did that, but I'm not real comfortable with emotions and all.

"So how 'bout some cookies," Bobby said. I forgot we had cookies. This cheered Ri a bit. Then again, the thought of eating monster cookies on Christmas does have its charms. We dug into a few cookies, which were good considering the dough was premade.

"Hey, what's this one," Sam said holding up an angel cookie. In fact, I think it was the only other angel cookie Ri made besides the Cas cookie.

"Shit," Ri cursed. Sam gave me his trademark bitchface. He always chided me for cursing in front of Ri and now it just bit me on the ass.

"So who is it Ri, I don't remember meeting any angels recently," I asked. Ri looked a little guilty.

"I was supposed to tell father before he left but now I guess it's you two who have to know." He was referring to me and Sam.

"I've been having dreams recently. I hear voices sometimes in them. One of them was an angel." This news made us uneasy. I took a look at the angel, which had yellow icing for hair, brown eyes, and wearing what appeared to be a brown jacket and jeans.

"So do you know the angel's name," Sam asked warily. Everybody leaned in to hear what Ri would say. Ri looked nervous then turned stoic. That was never a good sign.

"His name's Gabriel." That news caused the longest silence in the history of long silences. I couldn't believe my ears.

"Are you sure he said Gabriel." We never spoke of Gabriel in front of Ri before. There was no way he could know about him.

"Yeah. He said he's in some dark place called Purgatory." If the last revelation wasn't shocking enough, this was by impossible. We never mentioned Purgatory in front of Ri before neither.

"He's been speaking to me for two months now," Ri said.

"Why didn't you mention this to us," I said. I wasn't angry, I was furious.

"He said not to," Ri said defensively.

"Oh and you're gonna listen to some dead angel over us!"

"Dean," Sam hissed. I stopped and took a deep breath.

"He said you weren't ready to know yet. He wanted our contact to be kept a secret." Secrets, I had about damn enough of secrets in this family. But I didn't voice my anger.

"He said father was going to come today. I didn't believe him, but sure enough it was true. He wanted me to tell you three something."

"Well what is it?"

"He found it."

"Found what?"

"He found a way to kill the Leviathans. And he'll only tell you if you release him from Purgatory."

(Linebreaker)

Dun Dun Dun! What a story. I spent all day writing this. I may continue this story or not. Look for the "Angelic Child" summary on my profile on .


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